Sewing machine system, terminal device, method of synchronizing embroidery data for sewing machine system, and recording non-transitory medium storing program for terminal device

ABSTRACT

A sewing machine includes: a sewing-machine-side wireless communication unit having a capability of wireless communication at least with the terminal device; a sewing-machine-side recording unit configured to record embroidery data; and a control unit configured to respond to an inquiry from the terminal device. The terminal device includes: a terminal-side wireless communication unit having a capability of wireless communication at least with the sewing machine; a terminal-side recording unit configured to have a capability of recording embroidery data; an embroidery data obtaining unit configured to obtain embroidery data unrecorded in the terminal-side recording unit from the sewing-machine-side recording unit, and to have the terminal-side recording unit record the obtained embroidery data; and an editing unit configured to edit the embroidery data recorded in the terminal-side recording unit.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is based on and claims the benefit of priority toJapanese Patent Application No. 2014-180512 filed on Sep. 4, 2014, thecontents of which are hereby incorporated by reference in theirentirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a sewing machine system, a terminaldevice, a method of synchronizing embroidery data for the sewing machinesystem, and a recording non-transitory medium storing a program for theterminal device.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Conventionally, there is known a technique of connecting a sewingmachine to a personal computer or the like via a wireless communication(see PTL 1).

Further, in recent years, tablet terminals that can be used in a simplermanner have become widely used in various fields in place of personalcomputers.

In the field of sewing machines, systems in which a sewing machine and atablet terminal may be connected via a wireless LAN have also beendeveloped. In the conventional system, a single-purpose embroideryediting application program is installed in a tablet terminal. With theembroidery editing application program, it is possible to perform anoffline editing operation equivalent to an operation performed with thesewing machine.

In order for a tablet terminal to realize an operation equivalent tothat performed with the sewing machine, the tablet terminal has to havethe same embroidery data as that stored in the sewing machine.

However, as the embroidery editing application program is configured toinclude entire embroidery data stored in the sewing machine, and avolume of the program is large. In the conventional embroidery editingapplication program, a program component for control accounts for onlyabout a dozen percent of an entire volume, and most of the remainingpart is occupied by embroidery data and image data such as selectionbuttons. In order for a user to download such a conventional embroideryediting application program of a large volume from an online store, forexample, it takes a long time.

Further, in order to have the embroidery data stored in the sewingmachine and the embroidery data held by the embroidery editingapplication program match, it is necessary to prepare an embroideryediting application program for every model of the sewing machine. Evenwith this, when embroidery data is newly added to the sewing machineusing an external recording non-transitory medium, or when a firmwareversion of the sewing machine is updated, it is not possible to respondonly with the embroidery editing application program that has beeninstalled in the tablet terminal, and the user has to additionallyperform updating of the version of the embroidery editing applicationprogram or the like.

Moreover, the embroidery data includes data that require copyrightmanagement, such as character patterns (hereinafter referred to ascopyright data). In the case of the conventional embroidery editingapplication program, such copyright data is unfavorably copied to thetablet terminal along with the embroidery data.

CITATION LIST Patent Literature

PTL 1: Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No.2004-141471

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

One or more embodiments of the present invention provide: a sewingmachine system, in which an editing operation equivalent to an operationperformed with a sewing machine may be performed by a terminal deviceusing an embroidery editing application program that does not includeembroidery data, and data management is appropriately performed; theterminal device; a method of synchronizing the embroidery data for thesewing machine system; and a recording non-transitory medium storing aprogram for the terminal device.

Embodiment (1): One or more embodiments of the present invention providea sewing machine system including: a sewing machine; and a terminaldevice, wherein the sewing machine and the terminal device are connectedin a manner providing a capability of wireless communication with eachother, the sewing machine includes: a sewing-machine-side wirelesscommunication unit having a capability of wireless communication atleast with the terminal device; a sewing-machine-side recording unitconfigured to record embroidery data; and a control unit configured torespond to an inquiry from the terminal device, and the terminal deviceincludes: a terminal-side wireless communication unit having acapability of wireless communication at least with the sewing machine; aterminal-side recording unit configured to have a capability ofrecording embroidery data; an embroidery data obtaining unit configuredto compare the embroidery data recorded in the sewing-machine-siderecording unit with the embroidery data recorded in the terminal-siderecording unit, to obtain embroidery data unrecorded in theterminal-side recording unit from the sewing-machine-side recordingunit, and to have the terminal-side recording unit record the obtainedembroidery data; and an editing unit configured to edit the embroiderydata recorded in the terminal-side recording unit.

Embodiment (2): One or more embodiments of the present invention providethe sewing machine system according to the embodiment (1), wherein theterminal-side recording unit records no embroidery data in an initialstate before wireless communication with the sewing machine is performedfor the first time, and the embroidery data obtaining unit obtains theembroidery data from the sewing-machine-side recording unit whenwireless communication at least with the sewing machine is enabled forthe first time.

Embodiment (3): One or more embodiments of the present invention providethe sewing machine system according to the embodiment (1), wherein tothe embroidery data, attribute information indicating copy restrictionis assigned.

Embodiment (4): One or more embodiments of the present invention providethe sewing machine system according to the embodiment (3), wherein whena plurality of patterns of the embroidery data having differentattribute information are combined in an editing operation, theattribute information of one of the combined patterns is carried over.

Embodiment (5): One or more embodiments of the present invention providethe sewing machine system according to the embodiment (3), wherein whenthe editing unit generates new embroidery data by combining a pluralityof patterns of the embroidery data, the attribute information of one ofthe combined patterns is carried over.

Embodiment (6): One or more embodiments of the present invention providethe sewing machine system according to the embodiment (1), wherein whenthe embroidery data is obtained, the embroidery data obtaining unitidentifies individuality of the sewing machine as a communicationtarget, and the system further includes: a post-edit embroidery datatransmission unit configured to have a capability of transferringpost-edit embroidery data edited by the editing unit only to the sewingmachine as the communication target that is identified by the embroiderydata obtaining unit.

Embodiment (7): One or more embodiments of the present invention providea terminal device connected to a sewing machine in a manner providing acapability of wireless communication with the sewing machine, theterminal device including: a terminal-side wireless communication unithaving a capability of wireless communication at least with the sewingmachine; a terminal-side recording unit configured to have a capabilityof recording embroidery data; an embroidery data obtaining unitconfigured to compare embroidery data recorded in a sewing-machine-siderecording unit with the embroidery data recorded in the terminal-siderecording unit, to obtain embroidery data unrecorded in theterminal-side recording unit from the sewing-machine-side recordingunit, and to have the terminal-side recording unit record the obtainedembroidery data; and an editing unit configured to edit the embroiderydata recorded in the terminal-side recording unit.

Embodiment (8): One or more embodiments of the present invention providea method of synchronizing embroidery data for a sewing machine systemhaving a sewing machine and a terminal device connected in a mannerproviding a capability of wireless communication with each other, themethod including: a step of, by an embroidery data obtaining unit,comparing embroidery data recorded in a sewing-machine-side recordingunit with embroidery data recorded in a terminal-side recording unit,obtaining embroidery data unrecorded in the terminal-side recording unitfrom the sewing-machine-side recording unit, and having theterminal-side recording unit record the obtained embroidery data.

Embodiment (9): One or more embodiments of the present invention providea recording non-transitory medium storing a program for a terminaldevice connected to a sewing machine in a manner providing a capabilityof wireless communication with the sewing machine, the program causing acomputer to execute: a step of, by an embroidery data obtaining unit,comparing embroidery data recorded in a sewing-machine-side recordingunit with embroidery data recorded in a terminal-side recording unit,obtaining embroidery data unrecorded in the terminal-side recording unitfrom the sewing-machine-side recording unit, and having theterminal-side recording unit record the obtained embroidery data.

According to a sewing machine system, the terminal device, a method ofsynchronizing the embroidery data for the sewing machine system, andrecording non-transitory medium storing a program for the terminaldevice according to one or more embodiments of the present invention, anediting operation equivalent to an operation performed with a sewingmachine may be performed by a terminal device using an embroideryediting application program that does not include embroidery data, anddata management is appropriately performed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a view illustrating an embodiment of a sewing machine systemaccording to the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating control configurations of asewing machine 10 and a tablet terminal 20;

FIG. 3 is a view illustrating a state in which a “pattern attributechange” screen is displayed in a sewing-machine-side display unit 11;

FIG. 4 is a view illustrating an “attribute selection dialogue box”displayed in the sewing-machine-side display unit 11;

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a flow of an operation of transferringembroidery data of the tablet terminal 20;

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a flow of an operation relating to a usagemethod and restriction of patterns for the tablet terminal 20;

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing a flow of the operation relating to theusage method and the restriction of patterns for the tablet terminal 20;

FIG. 8 is a flowchart relating to interrupt handling of communication bythe sewing machine 10;

FIG. 9 is a diagram of a sequence relating to transmission and receptionof embroidery data between the sewing machine 10 and the tablet terminal20;

FIG. 10 is a diagram of a sequence showing a case in which an embroiderypattern edited by the tablet terminal 20 is transmitted to the sewingmachine, where attribute information includes restriction on atransmission-target sewing machine, and the embroidery pattern is to betransmitted to a different sewing machine 10B; and

FIG. 11 is a diagram of a sequence showing a case in which an embroiderypattern edited by the tablet terminal 20 is transmitted to the sewingmachine, where the attribute information includes the restriction on atransmission-target sewing machine, and the embroidery pattern is to betransmitted to the sewing machine 10 from which the embroidery patternis originally obtained.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Hereinafter, an embodiment for implementing the present invention willbe described with reference to the drawings.

Embodiment

FIG. 1 is a view illustrating an embodiment of a sewing machine systemaccording to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating control configurations of asewing machine 10 and a tablet terminal 20.

The following figures including FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 are schematicdiagrams, in which sizes and shapes of components are shown figurativelyif appropriate in order to facilitate understanding.

Further, while specific values, shapes, operations, and the like arereferred in the following description, these are mere examples and maybe modified as appropriate.

The sewing machine system according to this embodiment includes thesewing machine 10 and the tablet terminal 20 as a terminal device, andthe sewing machine 10 and the tablet terminal 20 are able to communicatewith each other through a wireless LAN via a router or the like (notshown).

The sewing machine 10 is able to perform embroidery semi-automaticallyaccording to embroidery data, using threads of a plurality of colors,for example. The sewing machine 10 is a multi-functional sewing machinecapable of performing normal sewing with various sewing patterns.

In the following description, the embroidery data is referred to a“pattern” when appropriate, and the “embroidery data” is assumed to be asynonym for the “pattern”.

The sewing machine 10 includes a sewing-machine-side display unit 11, asewing-machine-side wireless communication unit 12, asewing-machine-side recording unit 13, and a control unit 14.

The sewing-machine-side display unit 11 is provided for the sewingmachine 10 itself, and configured by a liquid crystal display device,for example. In the sewing-machine-side display unit 11, variousinformation useful for a user is displayed according to an operationalstatus of the sewing machine. For example, in a state in which needlethreading is performed, information that may help needle threadingoperation is displayed. As the sewing machine is multi-functional, thecontent that is displayed has a number of variations.

The sewing-machine-side wireless communication unit 12 is connected tothe wireless LAN, and is able to perform wireless communication mutuallywith the tablet terminal 20 via a router or the like (not shown).

The sewing-machine-side recording unit 13 is configured by a ROM, a RAM,a flash memory, or the like, and records embroidery data for severalhundreds of patterns. Each of the patterns of the embroidery datarecorded in the sewing-machine-side recording unit 13 has attributeinformation. The attribute information is set so as to indicate a levelof copy restriction, and there are four types of attribute informationin this embodiment.

Attribute 1: the data is copiable to the tablet terminal 20, editable bythe tablet terminal 20, and transferable to a different sewing machine.Specifically, the attribute 1 indicates that the data may be freelycopied and treated.

Attribute 2: the data is copiable to the tablet terminal 20, andeditable by the tablet terminal 20, but transferable only to the sewingmachine 10 owned by the user. Specifically, the attribute 2 indicatesthat the sewing machine to which the data may be transferred isrestricted.

Attribute 3: the data is copiable to the tablet terminal 20, but anediting feature by the tablet terminal 20 is restricted. The attribute 3indicates that there is a certain restriction in the editing operation.

Attribute 4: copying of the data to the tablet terminal 20 isprohibited, and the data may be used only within the sewing machine 10.The attribute 4 typically assigned to copyright data such as characterpatterns.

Further, in addition to the patterns (embroidery data) that arepreviously stored in the sewing machine 10, the sewing-machine-siderecording unit 13 may record patterns that the user externally obtained(user-generated patterns). The user-generated patterns are alsotransferable to the tablet terminal 20, and an attribute may be set toeach of the user-generated patterns.

The control unit 14 controls operation of the sewing machine 10 as awhole. The control unit 14 also makes a response to an inquiry from thetablet terminal 20. Further, the control unit 14 allows the sewingmachine 10 to alone perform the editing operation such as combiningpatterns or changing a shape of a pattern.

The sewing machine 10 described above is able to change the attribute.In order to change the attribute of a pattern with the sewing machine10, an operator operates a touch panel of the sewing-machine-sidedisplay unit 11 to open a “pattern attribute change” screen.

FIG. 3 is a view illustrating a state in which the “pattern attributechange” screen is displayed in the sewing-machine-side display unit 11.

FIG. 4 is a view illustrating an “attribute selection dialogue box”displayed in the sewing-machine-side display unit 11.

In order to change the attribute of a pattern, the operator touches atarget pattern and place a check mark D1. Then, as the “attributeselection dialogue box” shown in FIG. 4 opens when an attribute changebutton D2 is pressed, the operator may select an attribute to bechanged, press an OK button, and change the attribute. However, theattribute 3 and the attribute 4 may not be changed, as it is prohibitedto change these attributes. Further, when patterns of differentattributes are combined by editing operation, one of the attributes withheavier restriction is carried over. For example, if a pattern that isprohibited to be transferred to a different sewing machine is includedin a group of patterns that are being edited, transferring of an entirepatterns in the group to a different sewing machine is also prohibited.

Further, while the previously set attribute information described aboveis assigned to stored embroidery data previously recorded in thesewing-machine-side recording unit 13, the attribute information mayalso be assigned to a pattern stored by the user.

Moreover, the attribute information set for the embroidery data iscarried over even if editing and storing is repeated.

Setting and changing of the attribute information described above may beperformed by operating the sewing machine 10, and the patterns copied tothe tablet terminal 20 may be used under the set conditions (within therestriction based on the attribute information).

Referring back to FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, as the tablet terminal 20, ageneral-purpose product that is commonly available in the market may beused. In order to use the tablet terminal 20 as a terminal deviceaccording to this embodiment, a program for the sewing machine system(application program) is installed in the tablet terminal 20 andexecuted. This program may be recorded in a recording non-transitorymedium such as a flash memory device, or may be downloaded throughvarious known networks.

The tablet terminal 20 includes a terminal-side display unit 21, aterminal-side wireless communication unit 22, a terminal-side recordingunit 23, an embroidery data obtaining unit 24, an editing unit 25, and apost-edit embroidery data transmission unit 26.

The terminal-side display unit 21 is configured to serve as a touchpanel, with which various input may be performed in addition to displayof information.

The terminal-side wireless communication unit 22 is connected to thewireless LAN, and is able to perform wireless communication mutuallywith the sewing machine 10 via a router or the like (not shown).

The terminal-side recording unit 23 is configured by a ROM, a RAM, aflash memory, or the like, and records embroidery data obtained from thesewing machine 10. it should be noted that, the embroidery data is notrecorded in the terminal-side recording unit 23 at all immediately afterthe program for this system is installed in the tablet terminal 20. Inother words, the program for this system does not include the embroiderydata, and configured only by a control program component.

The embroidery data obtaining unit 24 compares the embroidery datarecorded in the sewing-machine-side recording unit 13 with theembroidery data recorded in the terminal-side recording unit 23, obtainsembroidery data that is not recorded in the terminal-side recording unit23 from the sewing-machine-side recording unit 13, and records, i. e.,copies the obtained embroidery data in the terminal-side recording unit23. However, the embroidery data obtaining unit 24 does not obtainembroidery data whose copying is restricted based on the attributeinformation even if the embroidery data is not recorded in theterminal-side recording unit 23. Further, when the embroidery data isobtained, the embroidery data obtaining unit 24 obtains an MAC addressin order to identify individuality of the sewing machine 10 as acommunication target which the obtained embroidery data is transmitted,and associates the MAC address with the obtained embroidery data. Here,the MAC address may be obtained only when the attribute is the attribute2.

The editing unit 25 operates so as to perform various editing to theembroidery data recorded in the terminal-side recording unit 23according to the operator's operation. Examples of the editing includecombining of a plurality of different kinds of patterns. Here, theembroidery data to which the editing of combining a plurality ofdifferent kinds of patterns is performed by the function of the editingunit 25 in the tablet terminal 20 is also subjected to management ofattribute information similarly to the case in which the editing isperformed in the sewing machine 10. Specifically, when patterns ofdifferent attributes are combined by editing operation, one of theattributes with heavier restriction is carried over.

Further, if the editing operation is restricted as in the case of theattribute 3, the editing unit 25 operates so as to prevent a restrictedediting operation such as scaling of a pattern from being performed.

The post-edit embroidery data transmission unit 26 transmits post-editembroidery data that has been edited by the editing unit 25 to thesewing machine 10. Therefore, the sewing machine 10 is able to performembroidery based on the embroidery data that has been edited by theediting unit 25 in the tablet terminal 20. Here, when the embroiderydata that has been edited is transmitted to the sewing machine 10, thepost-edit embroidery data transmission unit 26 confirms the attributeinformation described above to determine if there is restriction on atransmission-target sewing machine. If the attribute is the attribute 2,transferring is allowed only to the sewing machine 10 owned by the user.Accordingly, the post-edit embroidery data is not transmitted to adifferent sewing machine other than the sewing machine 10 (hereinafterreferred to as a different sewing machine 10B). In order to distinguishthe sewing machine 10 from the different sewing machine 10B(identification), the MAC address is used. As described above, as theembroidery data obtaining unit 24 has obtained the MAC address when theembroidery data is obtained, the post-edit embroidery data transmissionunit 26 determines whether or not to transmit the embroidery data byconfirming an MAC address of a sewing machine to which the post-editembroidery data is transmitted (the sewing machine 10 or the differentsewing machine 10B). In this manner, if the attribute is the attribute2, the post-edit embroidery data transmission unit 26 allowstransmission of the post-edit embroidery data that has been edited onlyto the sewing machine 10 as the communication target that has beenidentified by the embroidery data obtaining unit 24.

Next, a method of synchronizing embroidery data for the sewing machinesystem according to this embodiment is described with reference toflowcharts.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a flow of an operation of transferring theembroidery data of the tablet terminal 20.

Here, the sewing machine 10 and the tablet terminal 20 are connected viaa router (not shown), and are able to communicate with each otherthrough a wireless LAN by previously having cryptosystems match andsetting a password on either side.

Upon starting up the application program for embroidery editing on thetablet terminal 20, in Step (hereinafter simply referred to as S) 1, thetablet terminal 20 confirms if a pattern stored in the sewing machine 10is already recorded in the tablet terminal 20, and makes determinationin S2. If the pattern stored in the sewing machine 10 is not recorded inthe tablet terminal 20, the operation moves to S3, and the tabletterminal 20 transmits a request command to the sewing machine 10 for apattern list.

In S4, the tablet terminal 20 waits for the pattern list to betransmitted from the sewing machine 10.

In S5, the tablet terminal 20 receives the pattern list, and records thelist temporarily.

In S6, the tablet terminal 20 requests for the embroidery data in orderto copy a pattern in the pattern list from the sewing machine 10 to thetablet terminal 20.

In S7, the tablet terminal 20 waits for the embroidery data to betransferred from the sewing machine 10, and upon reception of onepattern, records the pattern as a file in a recording area of the tabletterminal 20 (S8).

At the same time, the tablet terminal 20 registers an attribute of thispattern (S9) as well as an MAC address indicating a source of thepattern (S10).

In S11, the tablet terminal 20 draws an image for a selection buttonfrom the embroidery data to generate a pattern icon, and registers theicon in a selection screen. The tablet terminal 20 repeats from S6 toS12 until all of the patterns registered in the pattern list arereceived. The above process is performed once if a pattern is not copiedin the tablet terminal 20. Further, even if the pattern is copied in thetablet terminal 20, when the embroidery data stored in the sewingmachine 10 includes a pattern of embroidery data that is not recorded inthe tablet terminal 20, the tablet terminal 20 obtains this pattern ofembroidery data alone.

FIG. 6 and FIG. 7 are flowcharts showing a flow of an operation relatingto a usage method and the restriction of the patterns for the tabletterminal 20.

In S21, the tablet terminal 20 displays a pattern selection screen inwhich icons of the patterns copied from the sewing machine 10 to thetablet terminal 20 are arranged.

In S22, the user selects one of the patterns in the tablet terminal 20.

In S23, the tablet terminal 20 adds an image of the pattern selected bythe user to the edit screen.

In S24, if the attribute of the pattern indicates that “editing isrestricted”, the operation of the tablet terminal 20 moves to S26,skipping S25, so that an operation for scaling and rotation (S25) maynot be performed.

In S26, the tablet terminal 20 moves and positions the pattern accordingto the user's operation.

In S27, the tablet terminal 20 registers new attribute information as aresult of the combination. Setting of the new attribute information isperformed according to the rules described above.

In S28, the tablet terminal 20 determines whether or not the editing iscompleted according to the user' s operation. If more patterns are to beadded, the operation of the tablet terminal 20 returns to S22 from S28,and a next pattern is selected. This process is repeated by the numberof the patterns.

Upon completion of the editing operation, the operation moves to S29,and the tablet terminal 20 determines whether or not attributeinformation of the generated pattern includes restriction on thetransmission-target sewing machine. If the attribute of the generatedpattern indicates that “there is the restriction on thetransmission-target sewing machine”, the tablet terminal 20 requests forstatus information of the sewing machine 10 in S30, and then obtains theMAC address of the sewing machine 10 in S31.

In S32, the tablet terminal 20 compares the MAC addresses. If the MACaddresses do not match, the operation moves to S35, and the tabletterminal 20 displays a message and stops transmission of the pattern tothe sewing machine 10. If the MAC addresses match, or if it has beendetermined that transmission of the pattern is not restricted in S29,the operation moves to S33, and the tablet terminal 20 transmits thepost-edit embroidery data (pattern) to the sewing machine 10 and waitsfor completion of the transmission.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart relating to interrupt handling of communication bythe sewing machine 10.

The interrupt handling is started upon reception of a command from thetablet terminal 20, and in S41, the sewing machine 10 receives acommand.

In S42, the sewing machine 10 determines the command, and generates alist of machine-stored patterns if a pattern list is requested.

In S43, the sewing machine 10 determines pattern attribute of a pattern,and adds the pattern to the list if transmission of the pattern is notprohibited (S44).

In S45, the sewing machine 10 confirms if there is a next pattern, andthe operation returns to S43 if there is the next pattern, and moves toS46 if there is no next pattern.

In this manner, the sewing machine 10 repeats the operation from S43 toS45, and generates a pattern list of all patterns.

On the other hand, if the command is a request for a pattern data in thedetermination in S42, the operation moves to S47, and the sewing machine10 converts binary data of a specified pattern in the ROM intoembroidery data in a file.

In S48, the sewing machine 10 transmits the converted embroidery data tothe tablet terminal 20.

In S49, the sewing machine 10 transmits attribute information of thispattern.

FIG. 9 is a diagram of a sequence relating to transmission and receptionof embroidery data between the sewing machine 10 and the tablet terminal20.

In a sequence of obtaining the embroidery data, when it is determinedthat there is machine-stored pattern that has not been transferred tothe tablet terminal 20, a pattern list is requested (S301 and S302). Thesewing machine 10 makes a list of patterns whose attribute allowstransfer out of the machine-stored patterns (S303), and transmits thepattern list (S304).

The tablet terminal 20 sequentially requests for a pattern in thepattern list (S305), and registers a file, an attribute, and an MACaddress of the embroidery data for each pattern (S306 to S313, . . . ).Here, the sewing machine 10 first converts binary embroidery data in theROM into embroidery data in a file, and then transmits the converteddata to the tablet terminal 20.

FIG. 10 is a diagram of a sequence showing a case in which theembroidery pattern edited by the tablet terminal 20 is transmitted tothe sewing machine, where the attribute information includes restrictionon a transmission-target sewing machine, and the embroidery pattern isto be transmitted to the different sewing machine 10B.

FIG. 11 is a diagram of a sequence showing a case in which theembroidery pattern edited by the tablet terminal 20 is transmitted tothe sewing machine, where the attribute information includes therestriction on a transmission-target sewing machine, and the embroiderypattern is to be transmitted to the sewing machine 10 from which theembroidery pattern is originally obtained.

If there is included a pattern with attribute information indicatingthat “the transmission-target sewing machine is restricted” (S401 andS501), an MAC address of a transmission target, which is the sewingmachine 10 or the different sewing machine 10B, is requested beforetransmission (S402 and S502), and the MAC address is received from thesewing machine 10 or the different sewing machine 10B (S403 to S404, andS503 to S504). If the MAC addresses do not match (S405), a messageindicating that transmission is discontinued is displayed (S406), andthe transmission is stopped. If the MAC addresses match (S505) thesequence of pattern transmission is executed (S506 to S510).

As described above, according to the sewing machine system, the tabletterminal 20, the method of synchronizing the embroidery data for thesewing machine system, and the program for the tablet terminal 20 ofthis embodiment, as the program for the tablet terminal 20 is separatedfrom the patterns stored in the sewing machine (machine-storedpatterns), and configured only by a control program, the program(application) does not include the pattern data or image data such asselection buttons, and therefore an entire volume may be reduced to asmall size. Therefore, it takes only a short time to download theprogram from an online store or the like. The number of themachine-stored patterns tends to increase more and more in recent years,and the configuration of separating the embroidery data is expected tobe still more effective in the future.

Further, as the data for machine-stored patterns is directly transferredfrom the sewing machine via a telecommunication line (such as LAN),contents of the data for machine-stored patterns and variation of thepatterns always match the data stored in the sewing machine, eliminatingnecessity to consider a difference between versions of the sewingmachine and the application. Moreover, as there are the completely samepatterns both in the sewing machine 10 and the tablet terminal 20, thereis no problem such as the patterns may differ even if the editingoperation is performed separately by the sewing machine 10 and thetablet terminal 20.

Furthermore, as the sewing machine from which the machine-stored patternreceived may be identified by the MAC address of the sewing machine, itis possible to restrict transmission of the pattern data to thedifferent sewing machine, and thus to prevent a machine-stored patternfrom being copied or the like.

It is also possible to realize the tablet terminal 20, and the method ofsynchronizing the embroidery data for the sewing machine systemaccording to the present invention by having the process of the tabletterminal 20 be recorded in a computer-readable recording non-transitorymedium, and by having the tablet terminal 20 read and execute a programrecorded in the recording non-transitory medium. As used herein, thecomputer includes an OS and hardware such as peripheral devices.

Further, when a WWW (World Wide Web) system is used, a web-pageproviding environment (or display environment) is also included in thecomputer. Moreover, the program may be transmitted from the computerhaving the program stored in a storage device or the like to anothercomputer via a transmission medium or by transmitted waves in thetransmission medium. As used herein, the “transmission medium” thattransmits the program refers to a medium having a function fortransmitting information, like a network (communication network) such asthe Internet or a telecommunication line (communication line) such astelephone line.

Furthermore, the program may be for realizing a part of the functiondescribed above. In addition, the program may be a so-called differencefile (difference program) with which the functions described above maybe achieved in combination with a program that is already recorded inthe computer.

Modified Embodiment

The present invention is not limited to the embodiment described above,and may be modified or altered in various ways, which are also includedwithin the scope of the present invention.

In this embodiment, the example in which a tablet terminal is used asthe terminal device is described. The present invention is not limitedto such an example, and a personal computer or a gaming machine may beused as the terminal device, for example. As long as the applicationprogram can be executed and wireless communication with the sewingmachine is possible, a terminal device of any configuration may be used.

In this embodiment, the example in which the sewing machine and thetablet terminal communicate through a wireless LAN is described. Thepresent invention is not limited to such an example, and it is possibleto use a different type of wireless communication such as infraredcommunication or Bluetooth (registered trademark), for example.

In this embodiment, the example in which the tablet terminal 20 uses theMAC address to identify individuality of a sewing machine as thecommunication target is described. The present invention is not limitedto such an example, and it is possible to use a different type ofinformation such a serial number of the sewing machine.

While the embodiment and the modified embodiment may be used in anappropriate combination, detailed descriptions shall be omitted.Further, the present invention is not limited to the embodimentsdescribed above.

REFERENCE SIGNS LIST

10: sewing machine

10B: different sewing machine

11: sewing-machine-side display unit

12: sewing-machine-side wireless communication unit

13: sewing-machine-side recording unit

14: control unit

20: tablet terminal

21: terminal-side display unit

22: terminal-side wireless communication unit

23: terminal-side recording unit

24: embroidery data obtaining unit

25: editing unit

26: post-edit embroidery data transmission unit

What is claimed is:
 1. A sewing machine system comprising: a sewingmachine; and a terminal device, wherein the sewing machine and theterminal device are connected in a manner providing a capability ofwireless communication with each other, the sewing machine includes: asewing-machine-side wireless communication unit having a capability ofwireless communication at least with the terminal device; asewing-machine-side recording unit configured to record embroidery data;and a control unit configured to respond to an inquiry from the terminaldevice, and the terminal device includes: a terminal-side wirelesscommunication unit having a capability of wireless communication atleast with the sewing machine; a terminal-side recording unit configuredto have a capability of recording embroidery data; an embroidery dataobtaining unit configured to compare the embroidery data recorded in thesewing-machine-side recording unit with the embroidery data recorded inthe terminal-side recording unit, to obtain embroidery data unrecordedin the terminal-side recording unit from the sewing-machine-siderecording unit, and to have the terminal-side recording unit record theobtained embroidery data; and an editing unit configured to edit theembroidery data recorded in the terminal-side recording unit.
 2. Thesewing machine system according to claim 1, wherein the terminal-siderecording unit records no embroidery data in an initial state beforewireless communication with the sewing machine is performed for thefirst time, and the embroidery data obtaining unit obtains theembroidery data from the sewing-machine-side recording unit whenwireless communication at least with the sewing machine is enabled forthe first time.
 3. The sewing machine system according to claim 1,wherein to the embroidery data, attribute information indicating copyrestriction is assigned.
 4. The sewing machine system according to claim3, wherein when a plurality of patterns of the embroidery data havingdifferent attribute information are combined in an editing operation,the attribute information of one of the combined patterns is carriedover.
 5. The sewing machine system according to claim 3, wherein whenthe editing unit generates new embroidery data by combining a pluralityof patterns of the embroidery data, the attribute information of one ofthe combined patterns is carried over.
 6. The sewing machine systemaccording to claim 1, wherein when the embroidery data is obtained, theembroidery data obtaining unit identifies individuality of the sewingmachine as a communication target, and the system further comprises: apost-edit embroidery data transmission unit configured to have acapability of transferring post-edit embroidery data edited by theediting unit only to the sewing machine as the communication target thatis identified by the embroidery data obtaining unit.
 7. A terminaldevice connected to a sewing machine in a manner providing a capabilityof wireless communication with the sewing machine, the terminal devicecomprising: a terminal-side wireless communication unit having acapability of wireless communication at least with the sewing machine; aterminal-side recording unit configured to have a capability ofrecording embroidery data; an embroidery data obtaining unit configuredto compare embroidery data recorded in a sewing-machine-side recordingunit with the embroidery data recorded in the terminal-side recordingunit, to obtain embroidery data unrecorded in the terminal-siderecording unit from the sewing-machine-side recording unit, and to havethe terminal-side recording unit record the obtained embroidery data;and an editing unit configured to edit the embroidery data recorded inthe terminal-side recording unit.
 8. A method of synchronizingembroidery data for a sewing machine system having a sewing machine anda terminal device connected in a manner providing a capability ofwireless communication with each other, the method comprising: a stepof, by an embroidery data obtaining unit, comparing embroidery datarecorded in a sewing-machine-side recording unit with embroidery datarecorded in a terminal-side recording unit, obtaining embroidery dataunrecorded in the terminal-side recording unit from thesewing-machine-side recording unit, and having the terminal-siderecording unit record the obtained embroidery data.
 9. A recordingnon-transitory medium storing a program for a terminal device connectedto a sewing machine in a manner providing a capability of wirelesscommunication with the sewing machine, the program causing a computer toexecute: a step of, by an embroidery data obtaining unit, comparingembroidery data recorded in a sewing-machine-side recording unit withembroidery data recorded in a terminal-side recording unit, obtainingembroidery data unrecorded in the terminal-side recording unit from thesewing-machine-side recording unit, and having the terminal-siderecording unit record the obtained embroidery data.